Integrated manufacturing from ingot to module

Although metallic silicon is an extremely plentiful material, large scale chemical plants have been required to produce crystal silicon having a degree of purity high enough for use in solar cells. Sharp had solved this bottleneck by means of a metallurgical process. Mass production of ingots for use in 50 MW polycrystalline solar cells per year will commence at the Fukuyama plant. Sharp will proceed to develop low-cost, high efficiency solar cells through an integrated approach encompassing the production of the modules from silicon material through the provision of post-sales service.